All Things New

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I really like new things. Anybody else here really like new things? Come on—don’t you like getting presents at Christmas and all that? New things are fun, right?

Think of houses. Maybe you’ve gotten a new house—anybody ever move into a new place? Isn’t that kind of fun? It feels fresh, it feels exciting. You're eager to imagine what it’s going to be like to live there and the memories you’ll make there. It’s fun.

Or maybe it’s not as drastic as a new house. Maybe you just clean. The cleaning isn’t fun—but isn’t enjoying a clean room kind of fun? Or maybe you’re a weekend warrior—painting or renovating. Nobody likes doing it, but after it’s done, doesn’t it feel great? A new-looking space, a breath of fresh air.

New things are fun. New things are exhilarating. Sometimes we live for new things.

But don’t we also love old things?

How many of you like old things too? As nice as a new house might be, I can tell you there’s a certain scent—whenever I smell it, my mind instantly goes to my grandma’s house. I don’t know what the smell is, but when I smell it, I know it—and I love that feeling of remembering her house.

Or maybe it’s the house you grew up in—home sweet home. You go back and see things the way they used to be, and when you see something that changed, you say, “Why would they change that? It was perfect the way it was.”

Old things are wonderful. Or maybe it’s old traditions you had growing up in your house. When you go back, you remember those memories, and it warms your heart.

So we love new things—but we also love old things.

So which do you think God loves? What do you think—new things or old things?

Some of you are saying “both”—okay, you know where I’m going.

That’s the kind of question Revelation 21 asks—does God love the old, or does He love the new? Is salvation about replacement—or renewal?

As a kid—and maybe I’ve said this before—I thought Christianity was about the annihilation of this world and our bodies. I thought it was all about getting rid of the old and starting fresh. I thought that when we die, our bodies go into the ground, never to be seen again, and our souls float up to the sky. I thought that as fun as this world can be sometimes, we’d never see it again. It would burn, and we’d be up in the clouds—whatever “heaven” was.

And I was told heaven was going to be an eternal worship service. And I thought, “Ooh... I don’t know if I’m looking forward to that.” (And God has a sense of humor, doesn’t He? Now I'm a pastor!)

But that’s what I thought. And I think that’s a common Christian assumption—that God prefers only the new and abandons the old. That all we look forward to is “going to heaven” and leaving this creation.

But look at Revelation 21:5 again. This verse is hanging in my office—it’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

Revelation 21:5 says: “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”

Who is seated on the throne? Jesus.

And what does He say?

“Behold, I am making all things new.”

Now notice what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say, “Behold, I am making all new things.”

It says, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

And that, dear friends, is God’s way of doing things. It’s not replacement. It’s redemption. God takes the old and makes it new.

In Revelation 21, the Greek word for “new” is kainos. Say it with me: kainos.

That means new—but not brand-new. It’s renewed. It’s renovated. It’s rejuvenated. It’s restored.

“Recycled” sounds a little cheap—because kainos new is actually better than the original. It’s the same thing, but now given a new and even better quality. It looks brand-new, but it’s still the old thing—made glorious.

Now the other Greek word for “new” is neos. Say that: neos.

Neos means something newly existing. Think of a newborn baby, or something fresh off the assembly line, or a new house that’s just been built. That’s neos.

But the word used in Revelation 21:5 is kainos. “Behold, I am making all things kainos.” Renewed. Rejuvenated. Redeemed.

That’s God’s pattern—kainos is the biblical way. It’s what God does all over Scripture.

God makes creation—and then kainos—He makes it new again.

God sees sinners and He kainos-es. He makes sinners into saints.

He sees what is unclean—and He kainos-es. He makes it clean.

He takes what is dying—He kainos-es. He raises it from the dead.

He takes the world itself—and doesn’t throw it out. He makes it a new creation.

Friends, salvation is not annihilation—it is redemption.

If it were annihilation, it wouldn’t be salvation.

Salvation takes the old and makes it new.

So how does God do that? What’s His process? How does He make the old new?

With His presence.

Now I’m not talking about Christmas presents—I mean His presence, His being with us. Although His presence usually comes with a lot of presents, doesn’t it?

God makes His presence with what is old, what is sinful, what is unholy and unclean. He makes His presence with what is dying—and His presence makes it kainos, new.

I love this in Revelation 21. Look at verses 2 and 3:

“And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.’”

Wait a second—isn’t that backward? Don’t we usually say, “The dwelling place of man is with God”? Don’t we usually think we go up to Him?

But what does this say?

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.”

God makes His presence among us—and His presence makes things new. Kainos.

And if you think about it, that’s what the whole Bible is about: God making His presence with us.

In Eden, there’s Adam and Eve—and who’s walking with them in the garden? God.

Then you fast forward to Israel. They build a tabernacle—and who dwells there? God.

Later, Solomon builds a temple—a permanent structure. And who lives there? God.

Then—Merry Christmas!—Jesus is born. And who is Jesus? Not just man, but also God. Now God is walking again among His people in flesh.

The whole Bible is about how God temples His creation—He dwells with it, to make it new.

And when God comes to make this world new, something amazing happens.

Look at Revelation 21:1:

“Then I saw a new (kainos) heaven and a new (kainos) earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”

As a kid, I found that confusing. I thought, “Okay, the earth passes away, I get that—but what else passes away? Heaven?”

Why would heaven pass away? I thought heaven was perfect!

Because God is making all things new.

And yes—the sea passes away. That doesn’t mean we won’t have oceans in the resurrection. There will be water.

But in Revelation, the sea always represented chaos, evil, death, and suffering.

And when God makes His holy presence in a place—nothing unholy can stand.

All things dark, evil, chaotic, and deadly—they pass away. They cannot exist in His presence.

When God makes His presence known in a place, there is a new order. There is only goodness, and there is always life.

So what happens when God comes near? All things unholy and decaying—the way of death—all of it passes away.

Just as it began in the garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve walking with God, so it ends. It’s Eden again. But more than that—it’s kainos. It’s not just recycled. It’s not merely restored to a previous state. It’s made better than it was in the first place.

So it’s not just Eden again. It’s kainos. It’s a garden—but also a city. A garden-city. And not just in New Jersey!

The Bible ends with a garden-city, a worldwide paradise full of God’s people, made perfect because God Himself dwells with them.

The old order gives way to the new. When God is present, there is a new sheriff in town.

And you know what that means? I love this: in Revelation 21:4, it says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Why? Because there is a new sheriff in town.

“Death shall be no more.” Why? There is a new sheriff in town.

“There shall be no more mourning.” Why? There is a new sheriff in town.

“No more crying.” Why? There is a new sheriff in town.

“No more pain.” Why? Because the former things have passed away. The old is gone. Kainos. It is made new.

God comes near to change us. And this is not only a future promise.

Dear Christian, God comes near to you now to make you new. He comes near to you in His Word, and His Word transforms you. He comes near to you in His Supper—in His body and blood—and He transforms you, calling you new from the inside out.

You, dear sinner, are now called a saint. You have the body and blood of Jesus dwelling within you. You are His temple.

In Baptism, He transforms you. And He doesn’t erase you completely—He drowns the old you and raises you to new life. You are still you, but you are kainos—brand new.

You aren’t erased. You are renewed and redeemed.

Dear Christian, we have a God who makes all things new. And that means you and I now see old things differently.

We see things differently—even in Acts 11, which we heard earlier. I really enjoy that passage. Peter sees a vision of a great sheet being lowered from heaven, full of all the animals the Old Testament called unclean. And what does God say?

“Rise, Peter. Kill and eat.”

I love that passage. That’s why we can enjoy bacon cheeseburgers! But Peter got more than just a lunch menu out of that vision. God was telling him: Do not call unclean what I have made clean.

And Peter realized what that meant—not just about food, but about people. The Gentiles, who had been considered unclean, were now being called clean by God. The kainos—the new creation—was not just for the Jews. It was also for the Gentiles.

So, we might have a couple of Jews here, but most of us are Gentiles. Friends, that’s really good news. You should celebrate—with a bacon cheeseburger! We are included in the renewal of all things.

But that also changes how we see other people.

That’s really the heart of evangelism—not labeling people as unclean and leaving them there. Yes, they might be unholy. They are sinners. But we don’t only see them that way. We see them as people God desires to redeem, to restore, to make new.

So let me ask you, dear Christian: Who in your life—your neighborhood, your family—are you tempted to write off? Who might you be tempted to think will never be made new? Unredeemable?

Because you believe in a God who makes all things new, who is someone you could invite to church? Or at least sit down with over coffee to talk about what’s going on in their life—and how the Gospel might be for them, too?

Who, in your life, does God want to kainos—make new?

Because, dear Christian, the same is true for you. You are a walking miracle. You were a sinner. You were doomed to die. You were unholy and unclean.

And what did God do for you?

Miracle of miracles—He made you new. Kainos. New.

You, dear Christian, were unlikely. And yet God made you a promise.

You are a walking miracle. And together with the Church and all the saints, we look forward to the day when God brings heaven down—when heaven comes to earth to make His creation our home.

Our home sweet home.

When God comes to renew, redeem, and renovate this old world—and make it new. When He makes it our home sweet home.

Because, dear Christian, we believe what Jesus says:

Not “all new things.”

But, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

In Jesus’ name, Amen.